Aja Lushington was born in tea plantation country in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, in 1924, and lived there until she was seven years old, then returned to Tighnabruaich with her sister Thelma and her parents. She was a pupil at Beacon School and left in 1940 to study languages at St Andrew’s, returning in 1950 to teach French and German. She remained there until her retirement, having been promoted as Deputy Head to Clifford Hughes in 1976. Aja was also secretary of the Former Pupils’ Club for many years and her input was invaluable.

Deirdre Maxwell said, “As Beaconites in the 1950s, we were all a little in awe of her as a teacher, her loud voice and strict classroom control meant that there was “no messing” in her class. However when we progressed from Brownies to Guides, she was the leader of the 2nd Beacon Group and we then saw a different side to her. She still kept us in order, but she would take us to guide camps and there we learned a lot of life skills and had a great time into the bargain.”

We currently hold hundreds of documents, some the last of their kind – like the original 1919 prospectus for the Beacon School – which are currently just sitting in storage, unable to be accessed or looked at.

We are extremely grateful to our members who have donated to this project as we try to get all of the three schools’ archives digitised so that current pupils, alumni and the school community can benefit from our rich and varied past.